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CINCINNATI — A judge facing criminal charges was “not only unreasonable but also utterly
unconscionable” in ruling to take two children from their mother, an appeals court ruled
yesterday.

The ruling by Ohio’s 1st District Court of Appeals reverses a ruling by Hamilton County Juvenile
Court Judge Tracie Hunter, who isn’t allowed to oversee cases as she faces criminal charges on
accusations she misused county credit cards and backdated court documents. She has pleaded not
guilty. Her attorney, Clyde Bennett, declined to comment.

In the October ruling in question, Hunter upheld a magistrate judge’s decision — despite finding
potential errors with it — to permanently remove the children of a Cincinnati woman from her
custody and place them with a county agency.

In her reasoning for the decision, Hunter cited “undue time restraints,” though she had the case
for nearly a full year.

Hunter’s “judgment was not only unreasonable but also utterly unconscionable,” wrote 1st
District Judge Sylvia Sieve Hendon in yesterday’s decision.

“By its own admission, the trial court found error, but then claimed that it did not have the
time to determine whether the error was prejudicial to (the) mother,” Hendon wrote. That “is not an
excuse for its failure to abide by (the law).”

The case now returns to Hamilton County Juvenile Court.

In January, the Ohio Supreme Court disqualified Hunter from hearing cases after she was indicted
on nine felony charges of tampering with evidence, forgery and theft in office.

Hunter also is accused of using her county credit card to pay court fees stemming from lawsuits
against her.